A lot can change in 30 years. On the night of September 14th, 1984, sexy Material Girl Madonna took the stage for her career making performance of “Like A Virgin” at the MTV Video Music Awards. Thousands of miles away that same night, Henry Rollins and his seminal hardcore band Black Flag played a chaotic set on the wrong side of Tijuana in some forgotten dive. Nowadays Rollins is a revered punk rock elder and hosts shows on The History Channel while Madge struggles to remain relevant in the high-speed modern music marketplace. Some of music’s biggest names were operating on the margins of the music industry in 1984 while the hitmakers of that era often find their heyday behind them. Read more…

Cinco De Mayo is a time to party down, which for most of us means a plate of nachos washed down with a Corona in a coworker’s backyard. But the folks at Hard Rock were kind enough to send us South of the Border to celebrate the Mexican holiday with a real life rock legend: Jon Bon F–king Jovi!

There’s gonna be some partying today in New Jersey, because today is the birthday of one of its favorite sons No, NOT Bruce Springsteen -it’s Jon Bon Jovi! The arena rock legend turns 52 today, and the crazy part is…he looks younger than we do! There’s definitely a reason he won the honor of being named the Sexiest Music Man Under 40 (by a whopping 46 percent). He hasn’t changed a bit from when he first burst onto the scene with the rest of Bon Jovi nearly thirty years ago. Don’t believe us? Head up to the mega-gallery above and check out the hair, the ripped jeans, the gorgeous models, and other hallmarks from his ’80s heyday!

We all gotta make a buck -even future-megastars! Before the whole music thing panned out, some of the biggest rock ‘n’ rollers, divas and rappers held down regular 9-5 shifts just like you and me. But some of these early gigs weren’t so regular after all. From digging graves to working in psych wards, shoveling goodness-knows-what at a slaughterhouse, handling fish and breaking codes for the Army, these folks definitely earned their keep!

Ah, Saint Valentine’s Day. The day when you shower your loved ones with bouquets of roses, heart-shaped boxes of chocolates and heavy metal. Heavy Metal? That’s right. Hallmark be damned, this V-Day we’ve put together a special set of Valentine’s Day cards featuring your favorite stars from the world’s of hard rock, glam, thrash and good old classic heavy freakin’ metal. Say that special something to the one you love with Slayer. Do you and your loved one make a good Crüe? Are you Bon Jovi-al when you’re near them? Do they drive you as Wylde as the bearded guitarist of Black Label Society? Like Dio sang, are they your rainbow in the dark? Check out our Heavy Metal Valentine’s Day Cards, download your favorites and share them with the one you love. And if you need to get in the mood while the two of you gorge yourselves on candies listen to our list of Heavy Metal’s 13 Most Romantic Love Songs.

What special keepsake did Chris Brown want to take to rehab? The motorbike from Kanye West‘s “Bound 2″ video is no longer up for auction, and Suge Knight raises a big question about Snoop Dogg‘s Doggystyle.

When Richie Sambora was asked to pack his bags and take a leave of absence from the current leg of the Bon Jovi world tour back in early April, Jon Bon Jovi cited “personal reasons” as the cause of Sambora’s departure. Of course, “personal reasons” is generally PR speak for “drug/alcohol abuse,” and knowing Sambora’s well-documented history in that arena, many assumed that he had fallen off the wagon again. Well, as it turns out, Richie has been paying close attention to the rumor and innuendo, and he’s not the least bit happy about it. “Enough with the trash-talking — Jon needs to stop talking about me publicly,” Sambora told the Daily Mail late last week.